


13 - Breathe In, Breathe Out.

by VickeyStar



Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Anyways, Drowning, Juliet Higgins Whump, Kidnapped, Whumptober 2020, also theres a taser at the beginning, cuz we are, did we mention we are certified scuba divers, scuba dive equipment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:27:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26989756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VickeyStar/pseuds/VickeyStar
Summary: Her body jerks and seizes, unable to control the movements as he holds the trigger down on the taser.“This’ll be fun,” the man speaks, crouching above her only to knock her unconscious.Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask
Relationships: Juliet Higgins & Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946791
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	13 - Breathe In, Breathe Out.

**Author's Note:**

> So basically what you need to know about diving is that letting your tank get as empty as 500 psi is bad, though it's thankfully never happened to us or any other divers we know.   
> As someone who isn't that great of a swimmer, we didn't really think that Juliet would have very good breath control, as that is a big part of both swimming and diving, so she'd go through air quicker than more experienced divers.   
> Enjoy!   
>  ~ Sleef/Vic

She should’ve known it would go wrong.

As Thomas runs just behind her, ducking into an alley to try and cut their suspect off at the next opening, she sprints after them.

The two reach the end of the road, when their suspect pulls something out of his jacket, aims it at her, and suddenly it feels like she’s been struck by _lightning_.

Her body jerks and seizes, unable to control the movements as he holds the trigger down on the taser.

“This’ll be _fun_ ,” the man speaks, crouching above her only to knock her unconscious.

~*~

She wakes up cold, with something shoved into her mouth.

Obviously, she tries to spit it out, taking a breath in only to panic, as her mouth fills with what she assumes to be water, eyes shooting open in panic.

Grabbing what she now sees to be a regulator, she shoves it back into her mouth, noting the scuba diving equipment strapped to the ground in front of her.

She’s missing a BCD, with her feet chained to the bottom of what appears to be a tank of freshwater, only a tank and regulator set in front of her, already assembled.

Her arms are free, so she immediately takes in a deep breath, swimming upward as far as she can get, dropping the regulator intentionally in order to reach the top.

The chains on her feet keep her from succeeding.

It’s a struggle to get back down, and she has to curse her buoyancy as she bends upside down, ears immediately filling with pressure as she drags herself back down with the chains.

Grabbing the reg set, she checks the gauges to see how much air she has left.

2800 psi.

Knowing that the regulations keep a tank from being filled too far over 3000 psi, she’s comforted with the idea that she hasn’t been here for long.

Though, she does attempt to control her breathing better, looking around the white walls of the tank and refusing to panic further, in order to save precious air.

She pulls herself to the bottom of the tank, anchoring herself with the chains and the tank to avoid disorienting herself as she looks directly up.

Juliet sees a lid, of sorts, likely to cover up any kind of exit for her to use if she ever gets out of the chains.

But honestly?

She’s not that far down.

The light means it’s day, so she hasn’t been missing for long, and judging the distance by the tiles along the walls, she’d judge the distance to be roughly—

Her breathing picks up as she sees it.

It’s a depth sign, just barely visible on the edge of the rim of her cage, which means that she’s in a _swimming pool._

Of _course_.

The case makes a lot more sense, now.

They’d taken the case brought to them by a distraught widow, whose husband had been found dead, drowned underwater.

The police had ruled it an accidental drowning, with the unpredictable tides, but she had been certain that there was more to it.

This had led the two investigators onto a pattern of drownings, specific ones with certain factors that were strange, or didn’t add up.

They’d brought it to the attention of Katsumoto, of course, due diligence and everything, but they weren’t going to stop investigating on their own, no matter what.

One of the things that hadn’t added up was the chlorine, found in one of the victim’s lungs, and the signs of serious sickness from a couple of others.

But a pool…

Likely to be an indoor one, because of the covering and cool temperature of the water.

Juliet shivers again, her fingers wrinkling as she tries to rub her arms in the cold water.

The chlorine burns her eyes, a bit, more of a discomfort than anything else as she finally gets around to looking at the chains that anchor her to what she now sees is a sealed drain.

Studying it, she knows she’s not going to be able to unseal it, recognizing a welding when she sees it.

There isn’t much she can do about her situation, except maybe escape the chains and push at the undoubtedly heavy lid of the pool, but as she goes to remove the wires she keeps in the hem of her pants for this very reason, her vision blurs.

Her body is suddenly wracked with coughs, air bubbles floating up to the surface as she coughs into the regulator, wasting time.

She’s going to be _so_ sick, after this.

Making sure the regulator is secured to her mouth, she slowly shakes her head.

Now that she thinks of it, she does feel incredibly… off.

Try as she might, she can’t take a deep breath, and her chest _hurts_.

She shivers again, reaching with wandering fingers toward the chains and attempting to find the lock as she considers.

She’d say she has pneumonia, but she hasn’t been in here, for that long.

Unless she’s wrong.

Her fingers can’t cooperate with her brain long enough to start working on the lock as she thinks, so she stops the physical task to focus.

Taking harsh breaths as she keeps an eye on the gauges, Juliet rubs her neck in frustration.

She’s rubbing her neck when she feels it.

There’s a slight pinprick of pain, on her neck.

It doesn’t take her long to realize it’s an injection site.

The killer doesn’t just _drown_ his victims.

He injects them with chemical pneumonia, as well.

How he even gets his hands on the stuff, she doesn’t know, but she certainly intends to find out when she gets out of here.

Juliet refocuses for a bit, managing to wedge the wires into the locking mechanism before checking her oxygen levels again, and _woah_.

1700 psi.

It isn’t even getting dark, yet.

She must’ve zoned out, focusing too hard on getting the wires in the lock and ignoring her breathing, though judging by the pain she feels simply for _breathing_ at this point, she’s not sure how.

Nonetheless, she needs to be careful.

The headache that’s been building just behind her eyes for a while finally makes its appearance, causing her to need to take another break after only what she thinks to be a few moments of picking the lock with numbing fingers.

The _click_ of the lock almost doesn’t resonate with her, Juliet just staring at the lock almost boredly as her fingers work to pick it.

She almost actually closes it again, simply because she wasn’t expecting it to open.

Her eyes widen, and she’s quick to scramble up, pushing her legs out of the chains.

She checks the air in the tank again, to see the gauge saying 600 psi.

It’s a strange, nauseous experience, swimming up to the lid.

She blows out tiny bubbles as she rises, ignoring the way her ears pop and focusing on not letting her lungs fill with expanding air due to lack of pressure.

Her hands bump into the lid, and she was right.

It’s not a tarp, like she had hoped, but instead it’s a legitimate _lid_ , weighed down on top of the water and not giving her any way to slide out from under it.

At one point she has to hold her breath, risking drowning to stay up there the extra few moments, just to keep trying.

As she uses it to get down to the tank again, Juliet will admit that the lid is a decent springboard.

She wraps her legs loosely around the chains again, this time focusing on the tank.

Juliet knows she’s not going to be able to swim up there and keep the tank with her, but she also knows that in her current condition, she’s not going to be able to spring back down twenty feet deep in freezing cold water a second time.

Looking back up, she knows all that she can do is regulate her breathing, and pray that Magnum finds her in time.

~*~

She tortures herself, staring at the gauges.

Watching, as the little pressure gauge goes over the red mark signaling 500 psi, slowly but surely sinking further down.

It’s gotten dark, outside, and the only reason she can still see the gauges at all is because the gauges were made to be glow-in-the-dark, as most are.

She takes as deep of a breath as she can, just barely avoiding another coughing fit as more blood comes out of the regulator and into the water surrounding her.

At least she doesn’t have to worry about sharks.

That thought distracts her a bit _too_ effectively, breathing in too deep and going into the longest coughing fit she’s had since this whole thing started.

By the time she’s done coughing, she gets a half breath in from the regulator before she chokes on nothing.

Immediately spitting it out and clenching her jaw, Juliet checks the gauges to confirm her suspicions.

0 psi.

She more floats to the top of the pool, than swims, her sense of direction being compromised, at this point.

Her nose bounces lightly against the lid of the pool, and she uses it to drag herself in one direction until her head bumps rather painfully into a wall.

The water splashes around her, Juliet just barely able to push the lid up enough for air to get under the lid for a moment before submerging her again.

It isn’t enough air, not nearly.

But it means she can hear things.

Mainly, she can hear the stomping of boots and shouts of her name.

Adrenaline wars with the chemicals in her system, her arms banging the bottom of the lid in what feels like slow-motion, and she manages to squeeze a hand through an opening before everything goes black.

~*~

She wakes up warm, with something over her mouth.

Recognizing the sensation of air brushing against her mouth and nose, she doesn’t bother moving the oxygen mask from her face as her eyes flutter open.

Juliet’s covered in blankets, in what appears to be a hospital room, with Thomas Magnum asleep in a chair that’s been dragged just close enough for him to hold her hand.

A smile flickers across her lips as she watches him, hearing the reassuring beeping of the machine behind her, letting her know she’s still alive.

A buzzing comes from Thomas’s phone, placed next to their joined hands and on silent, and she can just barely see the text message.

_We got him._

_\- Katsumoto_

She smiles, settling back in to sleep some more.

edn

**Author's Note:**

> She was taught the importance of blowing out air bubbles as she rose because she did actually get scuba certified, in our minds, she just doesn't go diving much at all cuz she's busy, y'know?   
> Anyways, one of the main rules of diving is to never hold your breath, especially when rising, because the air will expand in your lungs and it isn't a fun time when that pressure builds up.   
> And yes, it applies to diving in pools, usually as practice diving in open water classes, as well.


End file.
